Spring commencement is in two weeks

May 2, 2014

Spring commencement ceremonies at Emporia State University will be Saturday, May 17.

Baccalaureate commencement will begin at 9:30 a.m., at White Auditorium, 111 E. Sixth Ave., Emporia. Nearly 600 undergraduate students are candidates for baccalaureate degrees. Graduate commencement will be at 2 p.m., at Albert Taylor Hall in Plumb Hall on the Emporia State campus. Close to 300 students are candidates for doctorate, specialist and master’s degrees.

These 2013 graduates have the distinction of earning their degrees during Emporia State University’s 150th-anniversary year.

Commencement speakers include Dr. Michael D. Shonrock, president of Emporia State and Dr. David P. Cordle, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Ed O’Malley, president and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center, will give the address at the baccalaureate ceremony. Helen Van Etten of the Kansas Board of Regents, will give the address at the graduate ceremony.

O’Malley served four years as a Kansas legislator, which exposed him to both effective and ineffective displays of civic leadership. He believes leadership is not a title, personality trait or workshop topic; rather, it’s an opportunity people can grasp and choose to exercise in many different ways and venues.

Van Etten, chief audiologist for the Topeka School District, was appointed to the Kansas Board of Regents in 2013. She serves on the board of governors for the Eisenhower Excellence in Public Service Series and has served on the board for the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and was an advisory committee member for KAN Be Healthy, a Medicaid program for children, teens and young adults.